Extended Interferon?

[Dunrider]

I started Pegasus in April, and have been counting the miunutes until the last day!  My 4 month check up revealed a zero virale load for the first time, I was jumping for joy, but the dr. said,"Well it took you longer to reach zero, so we want you to extend tx for 36 additional weeks."........... eeeeeeeeks, has anyone heard this being done before??  
Dunrider

[PegOnPeg]

This is pretty common..a shame, but it happens...what genotype are you?  Sounds like 1... If that's the case, it's pretty common.

Sorry, but the good news is the load is @ zero...you can do this?

I'm still waiting for the insurance company to get of their repsective a***s and ok my meds...I was dx over 3 months ago now...there was a little something else that they "thought" they saw, so we had to straighten that out first....now, I just wait, and wait & wait..

good luck to you ***

[zazza]

Genotype 1s who do not become undetectable until after week 12 but before week 24 are classified as slow responders, and should extend treatment to 72 weeks to up their chances of SVR (sustained viral response).

I was a slow responder, and did 72 weeks. I finished March 26th and am now waiting for my final result. My 3 month post treatment result was undetectable, so I am very hopeful. In my opinion it is worth the extra time to have a greater chance of success. Lucky you who has a doctor who realizes this! I know it must feel hard on you to have to extend, but that time will pass as well and then it will suddenly all be behind you.

[Marcia2202]

What genotype are you?

If I understood correctly you say that you ARE undetected at 12weeks, as you said that this is the first time that you show a zero viral load.

If your doctor wants to extend, I suppose you are either geno 2 or 3.

If I'm not mistaken:
If you are a geno type 1 and UND (undetected) at 12 weeks, I do not see any reason to extend. If you were NOT UND at 12 weeks, you would have to extend to 72 weeks, as a geno 1.

Marcia

[portann]

Dunrider: My 4 month check up revealed a zero virale (sic) load for the first time...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4 months is not twelve weeks and Dunrider did not say anything about being clear at twelve.

[frijole]

You are fortunate to have a doctor who is abreast of current facts and studies.  It really is in your best interest to extend to the entire 72 weeks.  At week 12, I had a mere 40 viron count.  I wasn't happy with it but my doctor thought it was perfect -- better than can be expected.  Most doctors are like him -- if you get your 2 log drop, that is all that should be asked for.  I had read a lot of studies and was very active on this board, so talked my doctor into letting me go 36 weeks after clearing (which was at week 20 for me) based on the Drusano model.

I was so sick of treating and wanted to get on with my life, I could not even think of going 72 weeks.  Besides, I thought, what is a mere 40 virons at week 12?  In fact, I never even considered extending until a member on the board posted that she was retreating after relapsing -- and had had a 40 IU/mL count at week 12 -- the same as me -- and did her 48 weeks in total and relapsed.

So I did 56 weeks of treatment, was 99.9% compliant, and relapsed within 3 months.  I know how hard it is to consider extended time, but you really only want to do this once.  There are many many here who have been successful with 72 weeks of treatment.

Good luck to you
frijole

[Marcia2202]

My bad.... brain fog. My math is going down the drain. 4 x 4 is definitely  NOT 12, but it is 16...



Dunrider.....

Sorry about creating confusion....

It looks like you're in for 72 weeks. I wish you lots of courage and strength to go through treatment. Sorry to hear you didn't make UND earlier.

Marcia

[Trish77]

I'm with the others that you should go the 72 weeks, what I don't understand is your doctor saying to extend an "36 additional weeks".  To go 72 weeks would be to extend 24 weeks.  Can you clarify?

In one way, you're lucky you don't have to fight to get the extension.  Whatever doc you're seeing has enough on the ball to know this is what you need to do and that's the up side here.  I think that's a good sign.  And it's also good that you managed to clear before 24 weeks...woohoo!!  That's also good so you've avoided the non-responder situation.

How are you handling the side effects and how have your blood counts been, as in your hemoglobin and your absolute neutrophil count?  Does your doctor watch those things with you?

Take care.

Trish

[Trish77]

I also wanted to pass along a little tip that will help us to help you better...one that was pointed out to me when I was new-er.  If you put in your profile what your Hep C stats are such as your genotype, when you started treatment and your biopsy results if you've had one and your viral load, alot of the time we check for someone's stats to help us answer their questions more effectively.

Good luck with your treatment.

Trish